Watson: Waiting out the weather was absolutely the wrong call this time

Thursday

Oct 28, 2010 at 1:01 AM

At some point in the night, it became tragically comical.Football games at Lowrey Field have been affected by lightning frequently the last few years. It had already happened twice in 2010 before last Thursday night, once even forcing the game to be called at halftime around 10 p.m.At 10 p.m. last Thursday, it wasn't even close to starting.The University Interscholastic League requires a game to be postponed for a minimum of 30 minutes once llghtning is detected in the area. Each subsequent strike within the area and within that 30 minutes resets the half-hour rule.There was a lot of resetting Thursday. Three hours worth, to be exact.Storms kept developing, kept moving in, kept pushing back the start time of the District 2-5A clash between Coronado and Tascosa. The bands left. The game was supposed to be on television. Even some radio announcers went home.Somewhere along the line, probably about two hours in, I suggested each team simply choose their best video game player, we hook up an Xbox to the Lowrey Field video board and solve it that way.Nope. Gonna wait it out.This time, the "Football is God" mentality in Texas backfired.The game finally kicked off one minute shy of 11 p.m., when the game basically would have been finished for an hour had it started on time. The teams kicked off, had a 15-minute halftime, and were done shortly after 1 a.m.You can bet it won't happen again.The District 2-5A executive committee has already discussed a rule that would limit the start time of games. The UIL currently has no rule. We could have stayed there until 2 a.m.The Tascosa coaches wanted to play. I heard them say they would stick around as long as it took. Lowrey was off-limits Friday due to a doubleheader and Saturday due to a band function. Talk of using Jones AT&T Stadium on Saturday came up, but the cost probably ruled it out.Coronado coach Butch Henderson wanted to do the right thing and reschedule. These kids had school the next morning, although after Thursday I doubt they were too alert. Tascosa still had to travel back two hours, but wanted to stay.The game should have been called after 10 p.m. Period. Athletic directors should have overruled the coaches at that point and sent everyone home, then worked Friday to find a solution for Saturday. Cooper's field was open, probably could have used it. So was Plainview, and that's about as neutral as you can get.There were solutions other than just waiting it out. Trust me, we all would have understood.The picksSan Angelo Central at Monterey: The Bobcats barely handled a Lubbock High team that has struggled offensively. Monterey will not struggle. Monterey 31, Central 17.Lubbock High at Coronado: Two things favor LHS - they took a big step forward offensively last week, and it catches a Coronado team reeling. That still won't be enough. Coronado 41, Lubbock High 14.Frenship at Randall: How will the Tigers react with two essentially meaningless games to play? Who knows what Frenship team will show up? Randall 37, Frenship 14.Estacado at Levelland: As long as the Matadors don't lose focus and look ahead to next week, this will be a game that should be over by halftime. Estacado 56, Levelland 0.Shallowater at Cooper: The Mustangs have to find a way to regroup and put last week's game behind them or else Cooper, with the way it's playing, might just repeat Estacado's performance. Cooper 38, Shallowater 17.Roosevelt at Slaton: Last week's game should take care of Roosevelt not coming out ready to play. But last week might have also done too much damage to the Eagles' playoff hopes. Roosevelt 45, Slaton 7.New Deal at Olton: The door opened back up for the Lions two weeks ago, and last year they burst through with their best performance of the season. New Deal 42, Olton 6.Lubbock Christian at Muenster Sacred Heart: The best thing about Muenster is in the spring with Muensterfest. Feast is what Sacred Heart might do. Sacred Heart 35, LCHS 21.Last week: 6-2Season: 55-17 (.764)George Watson can be seen each week on "Football Fever" at 8 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays on Lubbock ISD-TV (Ch. 12) and www.lonestarvarsity.com, and can be heard each Wednesday at 6 p.m. on "The High School Experience" on KKAM 1340 AM.

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